PHX Film News - January 11, 2013

PHX Film News January 11th, 2013 Happy New Year! This week we've got a review for Gangster Squad, info on this weeks new releases, details on a Phoenix Art Museum screening and finally, the PHX Film News Top 10 of 2012. Pic of the week - Gangster Squad Hey Phoenix Film fans! Opening this week is the highly anticipated film “Gangster Squad” starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma stone. Inspired by a true story, the backdrop of the film is set in Los Angeles circa 1949. Gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) moved west from Chicago, claiming the city of angels as his town. War hero and now L.A.P.D. Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) is a rare type of law man; he’s been able to withstand the temptation of being bought off by Cohen’s gang or any other type of criminal. Instead, he hunts them down renegade style, which lands him frequently in hot water with his department Police Chief. O’Mara refused to stand by and look the other way while corruption and mayhem over take the city he loves. Click here to read our review Other new releases Fresh off its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, Amouropens in Phoenix. You can see it exclusively at Harkins Camelview. Other notable releases include Chris Colfer's Struck By Lightning which you can catch at Harkins Shea 14. If you're in the mood for spoof comedy, A Haunted House also opens. Looking for some smaller films, check out The Blue Jewel, Madoka Magica Parts 1 & 2 or Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu Film event at the Phoenix Art Museum Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters January 11 to 13 at 1:00pm Phoenix Art Museum Acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson doesn’t just “take” his images, he creates them, through elaborate days and weeks of invention, design, and set-up. In his decade-long project “Beneath the Roses” he uses light, color and character to conjure arresting images, managing a crew of 60 amidst seemingly countless logistical and creative obstacles. Filmed over a decade, beginning in 2000, Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters provides an unparalleled view of the moment of creation of his images. It also reveals the life-story behind the work—through frank reflections on his life and career, including the formative influences of his psychologist father and his childhood fascination with the work of Diane Arbus. Childhood fears and ideals, adult anxieties and desires, the influences of pop-culture all combine to form who we are, and for Crewdson, motivate his work. Click here for more information Your Top 10 of 2012 Thank you to everyone who voted for their favorite movies of 2012. So here it is the PHX Film News Top 10 of 2012.... 10 - The Avengers 9 - Life of Pi 8 - Beasts of the Southern Wild 7 - Moonrise Kingdom 6 - The Intouchables 5 - Les Miserables 4 - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 3 - Silver Linings Playbook 2 - Lincoln 1 - Argo Note: With the late Phoenix releases of Zero Dark Thirty and Amour, they didn't quite make the list.

Who will win the 2013 awards? Here's who won last year.

Every year on Sunday night of the festival, awards are handed out for the competition features and shorts. The winners of the film awards are determined by members of the Phoenix Film Critics Society. With films now announced, we can start speculating on who is going to be this year's winners. Here's a look back at last year.  

The 2012 Phoenix Film Festival Award Winners:

International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Fest Awards

Best Sci-Fi  Short Film - Secret Identity Best Sci-Fi Feature Film - Pig Best Horror Short Film - Brutal Relax Best Horror Feature Film - It’s In The Blood

Short Film Awards

Best Grade/HS Short Film - Trolley Best College Short Film - The Life Smugglers Best Arizona Short Film - Parallax Best Documentary Short Film - Sacred Poison Best Live Action Short Film - Play By Play Best Animated Short Film - Masks

World Cinema Awards

World Cinema Short Film - La Media Pena World Cinema Documentary - Wolves Unleashed World Cinema Director - Ruggero Dipaola, Apartment in Athens World Cinema Best Picture - Apartment in Athens World Cinema Audience Award Winner - Lidice

Foundation Awards

Arizona Filmmaker of the Year - Diane Dresback Volunteer of the Year - Tiffany Hutson Board Member of the Year - Lori AlderferFeature

Film Awards

Dan Harkins Breakthrough Filmmaker Award - Gary King, How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song Best Documentary - We Run Sh*t Best Ensemble - Searching for Sonny Best Director - Kurt Kuenne, Shuffle Best Screenwriting - Andrew Disney, Searching for Sonny Cox Audience Award - How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song Best Picture - Shuffle

PHX Film News - 12/28/12

PHX Film News December 28, 2012 Since there are no new releases today, we're going to something fun to end the year. See below for information on casting your vote for top films of 2012..... Vote for your 5 favorite movies of the year We're compiling our own Top 10 list for the best movies of 2013 and we need your help. Over the next week (through January 3rd), we'll be collecting your votes for your five favorite movies of 2012. Just click the link below and vote for your FIVE favorite films of the year. Please only choose five films or your vote won't be counted. Happy voting and tune in next week for the results. Click here to cast your vote

PHX Film News for 12/21/2012

PHX Film News December 21, 2012 Wow. We've got a jam-packed newsletter for you this week. Lots of releases and reviews, including for a couple of big films coming out on Christmas Day. Plus we'll close out this week's newsletter with a special best and worst from a long time friend of the festival. Spotlight Movie of the Week - This is 40 There comes in time in every adults life when you realize that the candles on your cake keep increasing, your body starts going through the next phase of change, but your mind hasn’t quite caught up to the age of your body? In Judd Apatow’s latest film, This is 40, he brings back the gang (some of them) from Knocked Up – the family made up of Pete, Debbie and their girls Charlotte and Sadie a few years older, maybe a little wiser but still trying to figure life and relationships out with a sense of humor. Click here to read our review More new releases If you’re looking for an action movie to take him this weekend before the Christmas holiday opening in theaters,“Jack Reacher”, a film based on the book “One Shot” by Lee Child, starring Tom Cruise. Now click here to see what we thought. What do you get when you team up one of the most successful directors of all time, but as a producer, another Academy Award nominated director and the equivalent of a modern day circus? The million dollar answer is… “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away”, brought to you from Executive Producer James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar) and Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe). Click here to see the review. With less than two weeks to go for the 2012 movie release schedule, The Guilt Trip is a comedy that doesn’t quite fit the typical holiday release film type. Director Ann Fletcher brings together a quirky, yet witty cast of characters, with the most intriguing pairing of mother and son in Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen.Click here for our review Christmas Day Releases - Django Unchained and Les Miserables There are a couple of huge releases on Christmas Day and we've got a couple of early reviews for you. Up first is the latest from Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained. Whether you love him or hate him, Tarantino always is pushing the envelope and developing iconic characters. Click here to read what we thought about his latest effort Then of course, there's Les Miserables. This film boasts a stellar cast and is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. We love ending the year with a musical and here's what we thought A special best and worst of the year from Neil Cohen The saddest moment of the year for us was the recent passing of local film critic, Neil Cohen. Neil was a founding member of the Phoenix Film Critics Society and a judge of the Phoenix Film Festival for over ten years. He was a vibrant person, an actor, writer and was always smiling. We'll greatly miss Neil, but he left us with one last gift, and that's his best and worst in film this year. Or as they're better known, "The Neelys" Click here to read Neil's thoughts on the films 2012 from Echo Magazine

Make a tax deductible donation

Make a donation for our youth education programs All donations are tax deductible Now is the time to help support the Phoenix Film Foundation's youth education programs. We are at 75% of our goal and can use your support to help us meet our goal for the 2013 event. Here's a description of the programs and what your support means. Click here to make a donation online or call 602-955-6444 Kids' Day: Kids' Day is a special event that takes place on Saturday of the Phoenix Film Festival. Kids' Day is geared towards children from ages 5 to 12 and features hands-on film activities. The kids learn how green screens work, special effects are edited, sound effects are created and many other fun film stuff. Then they get to see a family film of their choice.There is no other film festival in the country offering this program to children and this is your chance to support it. Your donations support handout materials, a USB drive that they get to take home and film programming. Student Educational Outreach: This program is also unique to the Phoenix Film Festival. Middle school and high school students have the opportunity to participate in four day-long film workshops. The first day, they participate in panel discussions with filmmakers that are attending the film festival from around the world. The filmmakers talk about how they get involved in film and how they've completed their projects. On day two, the students learn about screenwriting. With the help of mentors they create a short film script. Then on day three, the focus is on acting for film with casting directors and professional actors sharing their experiences and the students participating in exercises. On the fourth and final day, the students produce a short film using a script created on the screenplay day. The students will break out into crews and assist in the production.This program has been in existence for nine years and is one of our favorite programs. Your donations assist us in providing guest speakers, creating handouts and having equipment on hand for the students to use. Arizona Student Film Festival: The Arizona Student Film Festival is a showcase of films exclusively from Arizona students. From students in third grade all the way through college, students have the opportunity to see their work up on the big screen. In addition to short films, students are also given a topic to make a public service announcement about. The films are then screened for the public and awards are handed out.We always look forward to seeing what the next generation of filmmakers are creating. Your donations help support printing materials, the event program and prizes for the winning filmmakers. Click here to make a donation online or call 602-955-6444

PHX Film News 12/14/12

PHX Film News December 14, 2012It's Hobbit Week and the big film opens today. There's a couple of other gems worth a look as well.... Spotlight Movie of the Week - Hyde Park on HudsonOpening in theaters this week is Hyde Park on the Hudson, starring a stellar ensemble cast of Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Samuel West and Olivia Coleman. With the 2013 Golden Globe Nominations released this week, one thing on viewers minds will be if Bill Murray walk away with an award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of the 32nd president. You can see this one at Harkins Camelview and you can check out our review here. Other new releases - The Hobbit and The Central Park FiveThe Hobbit is this week's big release. Tolkien fans should be overjoyed; the long awaited prequel to the Academy Award winning Lord of the Rings Saga is finally here. There have been advances in filmmaking technology since the first Lord of the Rings film was release, so audiences will now be able to experience a more life like viewing of the film, thanks to 48 frames per second projection rate and in 3D. Thank you Peter Jackson & digital projection. Now here's what we thought. Also opening is The Central Park Five. n 1989, five black and Latino teenagers were arrested and charged for brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling it "the crime of the century." But the truth about what really happened didn't become clear until after the five had spent years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. You can catch this one exclusively at Harkins Shea 14. Saturday is your chance to check out the holiday classic, A Christmas Story at select Harkins Theatres. Click here to find a theatre near you. Yojimbo at Film BarFor you classic film fans, here's a cool film that is playing at Film Bar this weekend. Yojimbo Synopsis: The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time. Click here for more information In the news - Phoenix Film Festival passes at a great priceWe're down to the last couple of weeks of Early Bird Pricing for Phoenix Film Festival passes. Now's the time to save 25% and get your holiday shopping done. Click here to purchases passes

PHX Film News for December 7, 2012

PHX Film News December 7, 2012 Another slow week for new releases, but not to worry things will pick up next week. There are a few smaller releases this week worth a look and also some holiday fun. So lets begin.... Pic of the week - Elf and Christmas VacationA couple of new Christmas classics have upcoming screenings at Harkins which gives you a chance to see them on the big screen.First up is Elf starring Will Farrell, Zooey Deschanel and James Caan. This comedy will be playing at select Harkins theatres tomorrow (December 8) at 10am. Click here for information on theatres Then on Tuesday, you can catch Chevy Chase and the rest of the Griswold family in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This one screens at 7pm on Tuesday, December 11th at select Harkins Theatres. Click here for details Plus there's a cool Christmas event tonight at the Phoenix Art Museum. More info about that below. Other new releasesFirst up is Waiting for Lightning, which is the story of Danny Way, a young boy from a broken home in Vista, CA, whose passion for skateboarding would one day bring him and his creation, a ramp of prodigious and dangerous proportions, across many cultural and ideological boundaries to attempt the impossible: jump China's Great Wall on a skateboard. It's playing at Harkins Valley Art. Click here to read a Q&A with the director.Our token review this week is for Playing for Keeps which stars Gerard Butler. It's the only new wide release movie this week and here's what we thought.. Also opening this weekend are Matchmaker, Lay the Favorite, and Sister. Tonight - A Very Merry Sci-Fi Christmas ShowGood holiday fun tonight at the Phoenix Art Museum.Dr. Diabolic and Nerd Nite Phoenix will present a Christmas Holiday Show on December 7th at 7pm, during First Friday in Phoenix Art Museum's Whiteman Hall. The show will feature highlights from the Star Wars Holiday Special, a Darth Santa & Mandalorian Merc Christmas Photo booth and presentation from Star Wars aficionado guest speaker Dustin Diehl. Museum admission is complimentary; tickets to the variety show are $5 and will be available at the entrance to Whiteman Hall and online. New Toys are also being collected for a Charity Toy Drive. The event is all ages and is presented with support from Bookmans Entertainment Exchange. The complimentary Christmas Photo booth will be available for patrons to strike a pose with Darth Santa and the Bounty Hunter Elves from the Mandalorian Mercs Shonare Vhekaldla Clan beginning at 6pm. Click here for tickets and more information Get Phoenix Film Festival passes at a 25% savingsDon't forget that you can still pick up passes to the 2013 Phoenix Film Festival at a 25% discount. They make great gifts and they'll just be available at these prices through the end of the year.Click here to get your passes

PHX Film News for 11/30/12

PHX Film News November 30, 2012 It's time for the peace and quiet of the week after Thanksgiving. After so many big releases over the last few weeks, it's a relatively slow week for releases. We've got one review and a few releases to talk about. Then we'll take care of some housekeeping issues for the PFF.... Spotlight Movie of the Week - Killing Them Softly  Killing Them Softly is the one film reviewed this week and probably the new release that will get the most attention. The film stars Brad Pitt and some great character actors like Richard Jenkins and James Gandolfini. I'm guessing many of you were sold when we said "Brad Pitt". This one picked up the 2012 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or nomination and is based on the novel “Cogan’s Trade” by George V. Higgins, We took a look at this film and here's what we thought. Other new releases  With a quiet week of new movies, you may want play catch up and check out Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi or Lincoln. If you've seen all those, you do have a few options.... First up, you can take the family to see the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Or sneak out and see it yourself. It's playing at select Harkins tomorrow morning at 10am. They've got a few other choice holiday classics playing this month and we'll keep you up to date. Speaking of Harkins, they've got three exclusives opening this week. The Comedy, Dragon and Starlet are opening this week and all have received respectable reviews over atAZ Central Finally, you horror fans that have been neglected for a month, you finally get a new release. The Collectiondebuts this weekend. Do you like us? Do you really like us?  In addition to this brilliant weekly newsletter, another way to keep up with the Phoenix Film Festival and the hijinks of Camerahead is to check us out on Facebook. We post info on special events, movie news and inside info about the Phoenix Film Festival. Click here to visit us on Facebook and then click "Like" to get our updates. Your Top 5 Movies of the Year  It's time to start thinking about your top 5 movies of the year. Right around Christmas, we'll be narrowing it down to 30 films for you. Then you'll have to chance to pick your favorite five films from that group. We'll compile all the votes and then announce our very first PHX Film Top 10. So put your thinking caps on and start working on your list.